I have a small toothache, but I just KNOW it's going to turn into a big pain in the mouth. Just my luck, I'll need a root canal.

On the upside, it feel like it's a tooth with an existing gold crown, so if they do need to work on it, they should just be able to remove the crown, drill a little bit, clean out the canal, and replace it with a tooth-colored porcelain crown.

I shouldn't be too surprised. This particular tooth was worked on at the dental school, and for all the professorial oversight, it was still some kid barely in his 20s who was doing the work.